Carolina Catering chef adjusts to cooking Southern food

Few students who eat at Lenoir or Rams Head Dining Halls realize that behind every bite of fried chicken and every slurp of butternut squash soup is UNC’s executive chef — Paul Calice.

Before taking a position as a chef for Carolina Catering, Calice had spent his entire life in the North.

He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Technology, and worked as a catering chef in upstate New York and a sous chef in an upscale private club in Boston before heading to Chapel Hill in 2008.

“There was definitely an adjustment period,” Calice said.

Among the greatest obstacles for Calice proved to be collard greens.

One of the chef’s first catering events was a Southern barbecue. When it came to preparing the greens, he decided to blanch them, which is shocking a food with cold water after boiling it.

“I sent them out, and I was so proud of them,” Calice said. “They were a gorgeous bright green.”

However, the greens were soon sent back to Calice for being too tough for the diners to eat.

“Having my staff around me really helped with the transition (to the South),” he said. “They were able to teach me the correct way to make collard greens.”

Since then, Calice has embraced the comfort food of the South, whether it be in the menus he creates for the dining halls, his new favorite food — pickled okra — or by representing the Southeast in the ARAMARK Culinary Excellence National Challenge in November.

After three years of participating in the competition and one bronze medal finish, Calice, along with chefs from Elon University and Salem Academy, took home the coveted gold medal and Copper Pot for the Southeast last year.

“His win is something that we at UNC can be really proud of,” said director of communications for auxiliary services Brandon Thomas.

Calice described the competition as similar to the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America,” with 30 minutes to prepare a menu and three hours to create dishes based on ingredients not revealed to the competitors beforehand.

He also said that while he has no plans to pursue a position as an Iron Chef, he is interested in possibly competing on the Food Network’s “Chopped.”

Back at UNC, Calice remains focused on providing local and fresh food as well as listening to student suggestions.

Scott Myers, director of food and vending, said Calice is the key culinary expert.

“He’s our keeper of the integrity of quality and food on this campus, and he’s doing a great job,” Myers said.

Calice works to network with students and clients and develop menus, which he said oftentimes keeps him out of the kitchen more than he’d like.

“But my heart is still in the soups and sauces,” he said.

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